Letter: Abortion incompatible with peace

Recently, more than 600 people from across New Orleans packed into St. Stephen’s Church for one purpose: to stand for peace, not more abortion, in New Orleans.

Two years ago, we held a similar gathering on Claiborne Avenue. At that time, we knew Planned Parenthood intended to sell abortions at the facility it is attempting to build on Claiborne Avenue near Napoleon. We knew this increase in abortions would lead us away from the peaceful future our city needs. But we didn’t know how many abortions Planned Parenthood needed to perform there to meet its financial goals.

Now we do. In Planned Parenthood’s own words, there is an “unmet need” for 2,844 abortions in New Orleans every year, and it wants to sell these abortions at its new facility. At an average cost of $450, this would account for $1,279,800 in abortion income every year. Talk about an abortion-based financial model. Talk about blood money.

If Planned Parenthood builds its facility and sells its quota of 2,844 abortions every year, it would perform enough abortions in 10 years to eliminate the equivalent of the seating capacity of Tad Gormley Stadium. While this destruction of precious human lives would harm the future of our city, it would fill Planned Parenthood’s pockets with more than $10 million dollars.

Planned Parenthood wants you to believe abortion is only an insignificant percentage of its operation, citing its own skewed statistics. But Planned Parenthood is in it for a share of the New Orleans abortion market. Why else would Planned Parenthood go through such trouble to build a facility where the only new “service” they would offer would be abortion? Remember, its current facility on Magazine Street offers all of its other services.

Instead of defending its aggressive abortion business, Planned Parenthood officials will complain that groups like ours are partaking in “anti-woman tactics” filled with “hate.” But they simply want to distract you. We love the least. We love that innocent unborn child whose heart already beats to the beautiful rhythms of our city. We love that child waiting to be born whose talents will bless our city in untold ways. But Planned Parenthood’s abortion business will stop those hearts. Planned Parenthood will destroy the hope of New Orleans birthdays yet to come.

New Orleans needs peace, and that peace must begin in the womb. Let’s stand together for a peaceful future, not one filled with the violence of abortion.